Shopping date!

Last night Ben and I had a great date!! We put the girls down early, and thankfully they went to sleep easily. So we called our friend Colton and he came over and watched a movie here to babysit. We went grocery shopping and went to a few stores to look for house things. It was so great to walk around the store talking and not having to keep Livy from jumping out of the cart or throw things at other shoppers or knock down displays. We made it to Cost Plus before it closed and got a great deal on an entry table! I love that store. I forgot how great that store is and how much i love it. It was really fun to just get to talk, and get things at a few stores that is impossible to do with three kids at once. I was so excited about our deals!
I love to shop sales, escpecially grocery stores. I am not one of those crazy couponers that gets things for free, and then gets money back. I wish I was that dedicated, but I always plan around whats on sale and use coupons here and there when i find ones that I actually need.

Anyways, last night was awesome because I saved 62.89 and only spent 49.00. I don't know why I get so excited when I get a great deal. But it really is fun to see how much you save when you shop! My goal is always to try and save as much as I spend. So it was great to save more!! I loved it. And for anyone that is reading this, just to let you know Safeway has Motts applejuice for 88 cents. We never buy juice, but I definitely stocked up!!

It was just so great to hang out with Ben without interruptions. And to get such great deals made it even better.

Huskies in First again!!

We Beat Mission today!!! We are in FIRST place! It was such a great match to watch. The team did so awesome. I am so proud of them!! It was fun to be back on the bench. But since I got there late, after warm ups, I wasn't in the captains meeting, so I couldn't stand up. It was REALLY, REALLY hard to stay seated the whole time. I just had to yell a little louder to get the girls to hear me.

Brooke

It is so much fun to see how much the girls adore Jackson. Especially Brookelyn. She just can't get enough of him. Today when we were getting ready to go to the park to meet some friends and I was putting Jackson in his car seat I said, "Jackson, it is your 1st trip to the park." Brooke overheard and said, "Melanie hasn't seen Jackson yet, mom."
I replied back, "Yes she has."
Brooke: "Oh yeah, but Mckenzie hasn't seen him yet." And with this huge grin and her eyes getting really big, it was almost as if she was going to open a big surprise or something, she says, "She is going to just love him. She will think he is so cute. And she will want to hold him."

It just brings me so much joy to think how much she loves him. Almost as much as me, I think.

Two weeks old

Jackson is 2 1/2 weeks old. I took him to the doctor on monday (at 2 weeks) and he weighs 12lbs. 5 oz. He is sleeping pretty good. He had some really bad nights over the weekend. But he is back on track to being a good sleeper (at least I hope so). I am determined to have a good sleeper this time around. I am starting to adapt the Babywise philosophy a bit. But some of it is a little too rigid for me. But I am really trying hard to keep to a feed/waketime/naptime schedule. Hopefully we will see good results for sleeping. He is so big, he could be sleeping through the night already!!!

Freezing Time

I just want to freeze time and bottle it up lately. This morning was such a great "saturday morning". Ben got up and did P90X and Livy woke up a bit early and just played out in the front room. I just listened to her entertain herself while laying in bed for a few minutes. After all the kids woke up, Ben and the girls made sweet potato waffles (we have an awesome recipe for pumpkin waffles from my friend Melissa. One time when making them i didn't have pumpkin, so I used canned sweet potatoes, they are a family FAVORITE!!). While Ben finished things in the kitchen, I nursed Jackson on the couch while listening to Livy's cutest high pitch singing "book-book (translation:brooke), dada, me....and any other thing she can think of to sing" while she was setting her tea set on the kids table. Brooke looked so cute singing softly to herself on the bean bag chair in her two tossled braids left in from last night at the football game, her big blue eyes looking crystal-clear with her pink pajamas and just waiting patiently for her show to begin. All the while I was just trying to soak in the moment. A beautiful baby on my lap and enjoying the girls singing. And for some reason all of this cuteness and fun continued all morning. Brooke telling us stories at the breakfast table, Livy just wanting us to watch her skip and jump (but not in her usual intense scream, but a cute high voice saying, "uh mom ook me") and play at the tea table and Jackson just looking around and being so dang cute. I just love being a mom and enjoying our family!

Sept 27, Jackson's Birthday!

8:00 am Brooke follows Ashley to the laundry room on a Sunday morning. Suddenly Ashley has a intense contraction and doubles over. Brooke says “What’s wrong mommy?” “I’m having a bad contraction – go tell Dad to start a hot bath for me.”

8:15 am Ashley is standing in bath and screaming out during contractions. The hot water has already been taken by the washing machine, so no relief from the bathtub.

8:30 am Brooke says “Daddy, we need to say a prayer for Mommy that her contractions won’t hurt too bad.” Meanwhile Livy is pretty oblivious that her world is about to flip upside down.

8:45 am Ashley yells “Ben, we need to go to the hospital call my mom!”

9:00 am Grandma Megan comes to pick up the girls. During the middle of a contraction, Ashley mutters something about where to find Livy’s socks…typical super mom.

9:15 am We arrive at the hospital. Wonderful nurse named Lisa taking care of us. Ashley is already dialated to a 9! They quickly hook Ashley up to an IV, then the anesthesiologist walks right in to get her an epideral…Phew!

9:45 am After more contractions, Ashley’s water breaks. Some fluid comes gushing out. Ben is standing at the bedside holding Ashley’s hand. When the nurse checks her, suddenly Ben feels faint. He grabs a chair and sits down, is completely pale, and in a cold sweat. Lisa yells over the intercome “Orange Juice! Stat! Husband needs help!” Other nurses rush in with orange juice and crackers for Ben, and one nurse snaps an ammonia packet in his face to bring him back to life. After a nutritious breakfast, Ben is back on his feet to support his wife.

10:00 am Ashley starts to feel the need to push. We give it a go. Some progress is made, but baby is getting stuck at the pelvic bone. Lisa is encouraging with her comments of “He moved a little bit.” Translation – he is in the exact same spot as before. After about an hour, we lower the stirrups to give Ashley a rest and see if the baby will move down on his own with more contractions.

11:00 am Dr. Wong comes in to check Ashley. She explains that if the baby does not move past the pelvic bone, then we’ll need to do a C-section. You can literally see the wind taken out of Ashley’s sails. She is so discouraged and dreads having a C-section. She begins to pray more intensely in her heart.

11:15 am Ben and Grandpa Forrest give Ashley a priesthood blessing. Ben feels prompted to bless Ashley that her body will be strong and that it will open up and relax to let the baby pass through the birth canal. All thoughts are positive and we focus our faith.

11:50 am Ashley straps up the legs and begins her second round of pushing. Slowly progress is made…baby inches forward, then back, then forward even farther. Lisa is so encouraging – a perfect personality fit for Ashley. Ashley is getting tired but pushes on.

12:30 pm Ben can now see baby’s head pretty clearly now. Neither Lisa nor Dr. Wong can tell which direction his head is, but they think he is face down…normal…good. Ashley is getting tired. Now when baby begins to crown, she screams at the doctor “JUST PULL HIM OUT. PLEASE!!! PULL HIM OUT!” She doubts she can do it. Baby is right on pelvic bone but not completely past it yet.

12:50 pm Baby is pretty much past the pelvic bone, just needs one or two more pushes. Ashley is spent, she is breaking down after each set of contractions. Her prayers are now vocalized “Please God! Help me!” Both Ashley and Ben are in tears but keep hoping.

12:54 pm Ashley is at her strengths’ end. Here comes another contraction. 4 nurses are in the room. Dr. Wong is in the catching position. Ashley curls up to push, nurses are all giving advice, Ben is shouting “PUSH! C’MON ASHLEY! PUSH!” Screams from Ashley. Suddenly the baby’s head is out. He’s face up! And his head is HUGE! Ben can’t believe it came out such a small opening – there is no way it could fit through – especially with those massively chubby cheeks. Shoulders come through okay without breaking the clavical. Rest of baby slips out.

12:55 pm Baby Jackson’s official birth time. His head has a huge cone on his right side. His face is a little blue. Ashley yells “His face is blue…breathe…BREATHE!” He’s just fine…he lets out a cry. Ashley is totally relieved and smiles through her tears. She is finally holding him on her tummy.

12:56 pm They place this chunker on the scale. Numbers ring up to 5.296 kg. A nurse quickly calculates – 11 lbs. 11 ounces! Everyone is in awe. Later the nurses tell us that between all of them and the doctor, this is the biggest vaginally delivered baby any of them have ever seen! They all want a picture with him later.

After the whole experience, we just feel incredibly blessed to have Jackson here with us safe and sound. It's so fun to watch Brooke and Livy beg to hold him. Brooke can't get enough, and Livy follows suit by simply saying "Please Mommy" and holding out her arms to take Jackson.